Welcome to Amanda Rayment's Blog

For some years now Dominique Sakoilsky and myself have been training women healers through our courses Antenatal Wisdom and Women’s Wisdom. We deeply affirm each student’s potential and inner light to step into this arena .

Women healers’ offer their services responding to the symptoms, diagnosis and the particular life cycle experiences that women bring to them and most importantly to the women themselves. To the lives that each particular woman experiences, to the relationships she embraces, the particular women’s life cycle she is experiencing and to the light that shines within each woman walking on this earth.

What does this ask of the women who train and work as women healers?

A student healer is invited to allow a trust in her self to arise not s

Like many of us, as a young woman, I wasn’t initiated into the power of the menstrual cycle. For most of my adult life my period was, at best, an inconvenience and, at worst, a painful, shameful secret that should either be controlled or pushed through. It wasn’t until I was in my late 30s that I began to pay attention to the fullness of my cycle, discovering it was more than just PMT and a few days of discomfort and bleeding. I began to chart the ebb and flow of my inner landscape throughout the month and witnessed the influence my cycle had on my body, my mind and, in fact, my whole way of being.

As I became more attentive, patterns began to emerge and I could see that certain phases of my cycle had distinct qualities. This deepening awareness showed me that, like the earth, I too had changing seasons that were revealed in different ways and at different times wi

“Is it safe to use herbal remedies for something serious such as high blood pressure?”

Amanda’s answer -

Thank you what a great question. There are so many elements here that hopefully will be helpful to a lot of people reading this.

It’s a very common shared thought that herbs are fine for minor ailments but can we trust them with a serious diagnosis? Although I would shout from the rooftops “yes of course I can!” I’m not going to force that belief on anyone else.

So each of us has to bring this back to themselves; do you want to trust the herbs? Are the herbs safe? I’m not dodging answering the question here and further on I’ll

Can we include ourselves in this wonderful demonstration of a natural and very real expression of love? Oxytocin is such a wonderful symbol of the opportunity to immerse our selves in the flow and harmony of the moment. We use questions offered to our selves with lots of kindness, lots of space and lots of love to discover a trust in our self. This deep trust offers the power of love for our clients and us.

2. Having ears willing to listen:

To have ears willing to listen to our clients rather than feeling we have to fix the situation can be such a gift and many times can be the best assistance. These may be lovely affirming words to any one who works with others and yet something that sounds so simple may not always be that easy. To discover there is a q

As a herbalist working in the arena of pregnancy and postpartum I am often asked whether I worry about using herbs with pregnant and breastfeeding women and my answer is no. As a qualified herbal practitioner of many years now I made a commitment to the plants a long time ago. One of the reasons I trained as a herbalists was not only my love of the plants but also I was passionate about self reliance of our health within the family. Herbal medicine offers such self-reliance and a model of wellbeing that can be discovered in any of our homes kitchen pharmacies.

I trained and consider myself part of a herbal tradition that evolved through the herbalist Dr Christopher. This model was then further developed and adapted by some of his apprentices. His message as he became a well-known and respected herbalist was summed up in the words “a herbalist in every home and a practitioner in every town “. These words are music to my heart and I use them often when speaki

The Induction of LabourHerbal remedies for when you feel to say yes to induction.

Induction of labour has arisen because there is a belief that the situation at the present time needs to be different to how they are. Sometimes this is accompanied with stress other times with a clarity from the pregnant woman that her body needs some form of encouragement to relax into the process of labour.

One way or another, a shift in thought/energy is called for. There are so many scenarios that can be the focus of induction. It may be the medical model indicating to the pregnant woman that induction is needed. It may be the woman herself yearning to hold her child in her arms. It may be the woman is fed up with being pregnant and wants to enter the next phase of parenting. I could go on and on with different circumstance as there will be as many situations as there are pregnant women meeting the thought of induction. So how can I judge whether

Vitamin KWhich herbs contain this amazing vitamin K and what do they offer us?

As I have been working in the arena of pregnancy, birth and family life for many years now it’s not surprising that I have an interest in vitamin K. It is a decision parents make after the birth of their child whether or not to give their consent to a dose of vitamin k being administered as a routine procedure. The reason for this procedure is that all babies are born with low levels of vitamin K due to newborns lacking the bacteria in their intestines to produce the vitamin. Very occasionally a small percentage of babies have symptoms called VKDB (vitamin K deficiency bleeding). What this means is that their blood doesn’t clot in the usual way during the first few weeks or months of their arrival into the world. As a result it is recommended by doctors to routinely administer vitamin K to all babies as a preventive measure.

Five ways to use Welcome World's Perineum Wash herbal formula in your home during postpartum.

Sometimes during birthing the area called the perineum is bruised or torn, this can be uncomfortable or painful for postpartum mothers. In this blog Iam going to offer 5 easy ways in which you can offer healing to this delicate and sensitive area of your body.

1. I am going to start with the encouragement of self-kindness. Be gentle with your self; maybe use the herbal suggestions I offer as a way of responding to your self tenderly. Other practical suggestions of being gentle with yourself could be to make sure there is a soft cushion or pillow in place whenever you sit down. Letting others help you with chores so you can focus on welcoming your beautiful child into your life and healing the discomfort in the perineum can be very nurturing. Love is always the fast track way to heal anything and the most practical.

Making decisions appears to be such a large focus of living our lives. Recently my friend and colleague Dominique and I have been reflecting together on “how we make decisions that are of assistance to us.” Our exploring began because we recognized that this is a large part of the role the antenatal worker/doula practitioner offer to their clients. In working with an antenatal practitioner or doula parents have the opportunity to reflect on decisions they want to make or have made during the parenting journey.

Many of us hear ourselves saying “ I find it hard to make big decisions, I have a fear I may make the wrong one and then regret it or suffer from the decision.” For me this is the first clue, “who is it who is making the decision?” By this I mean am I drawing on the limited version of myself I have constructed over the years to make this decision? Because if I am this will include all the old memories from the past I am still c

“3 great herbal allies when postpartum is not being experienced as sweetness and light.”

Sometimes outcomes are not as we have imagined in our minds eye. Of course this is no different with the birth of a child. Yes, there are many women who spend the postpartum period in a hazy delightful and peaceful encounter with their baby. There are an equal amount of women who experience postpartum as exhausting and uncomfortable, and there are mothers who experience some description in between these two sides of the coin. No experience being right or wrong and none having the exclusion to being a loving experience.

Every experience has the exact same opportunity to dive ever deeper into love. It often appears to be such a human trait to make one experience more, either more loving, more acceptable and I could go on with the mores! Yet is it of assistance to any of us? To be comparing experiences or to be making one way

Let’s start with what are “medicine ways”? Of course I can only offer my own thoughts as to the meaning of such words and that would be” a way of responding to life”. When I say life I am including everything from birth, death and all in between and everything beyond; a response that is all inclusive of everyone, and holds steady to the intention that all loving answers are there in any moment; a response that is offered from a clean slate in every situation rather than one prescription for all.

Birth workers which include antenatal practitioners, doulas, midwives and postpartum practitioners have existed for eons. Maybe in different forms but there have always been those who love to assist mothers and babies. It is no different today, there are many women whose hearts sing with joy and enthusiasm at their role in the communi

Wow! How do we put experiences into words? When we have experienced such openness, sharing of honesty, healing and love with a group of people.

I am going to start with gratitude as at the present moment I am simply filled with gratitude for everyone who joined us in our annual Prayer of the Heart retreat we held in Portugal last week. The incredible willingness everyone offered to dive deeper and deeper into self-honesty, self forgiveness and self love. The wonderful effect of this we discovered together was the honesty, forgiveness and love we touched on for our self also included the exact same for others. I could say how could this be any other way? Yet receiving a direct experience of giving and receiving brings a knowing that moves way beyond words. So I truly thank all of us who joined together to ask the question “what is a prayer of the heart?”. I know the ripples of love and healing we all received will simply continue as we all embrac

Hot chocolate is a great treat for those special occasions of celebration. It’s tasty, rich and warming. A lot of people feel it’s too heavy for a regular daily cuppa. Of course the “treat kind of hot chocolate “ is just that, heavy with sugar, milk and other additives that are in some commercial chocolates.

Yet as a herbalist I know of the wonderful medicinal and wellbeing value of cacao. So I thought it could be fun to offer some recipes of the healthiest hot chocolate in town which will also add a spring in your step.

So let’s start with non-diary milk for anyone who prefers this.

My preference would always be the amazing almond milk. This milk was my ally when my children were toddlers I can’t sing its praises enough. There are also lots of other great milks made from grains or nuts. Coconut would be del

This week has seen a flurry of interest in our May retreat at Gravito this Spring. It has got me pondering and questioning what do we hope from this time together? I looked up the origins of the word ‘retreat’ which comes from the Latin word retrahere which means to pull back. So how might we benefit from “pulling back” and what does that mean? I began to question what will we be pulling back from and where are we pulling back into? If I come to myself I can see there are ways and places that I get pulled out of my Self, in a way that I may become disconnected from who I am and my heart’s prayer. Life can be experienced as relentless in what needs attention, and yet much time and energy can be thrown into actions and words that don’t necessarily look after us. Who are we when we are not in role or in some idea of who we think we should be? How freely and unfettered do you walk within yourself? Are you prepared to put some time and commitment in

Antenatal teachers/doulas started a quiet revolution:

Over 40 years ago women started a quiet revolution spreading the word that child birth was not an illness but an amazing opportunity to discover inner resources within themselves and celebrate the journey of motherhood. There are some of us who trained as antenatal teachers in the peak of this revolution which was between 25 to 30 years ago and we are still sharing and teaching our enthusiasm and passion for this wonderful transition into motherhood. The enthusiasm for birth preparation has peaked and waned the same way all things do in this world. Massive changes have occurred in how everyone gathers information and support and this has brought its own effects to birth preparation.

Antenatal teachers are needed today as much as ever:

My answer to the question is yes! Also I feel it is a question that needs to be asked regularly by any profession or service provider

This is the title Dominique and I have given the talk and discussion we are offering at Camden’s Women and Health Centre at the beginning of December. We chose this title because Birth, Love and Relationships are at the heart of our new creation Antenatal Wisdom, an amazing online course accredited as a training for all aspects of antenatal work and as a doula training . The whole process of producing, accrediting, launching and facilitating an online course has been an opportunity to dive deeper and ever deeper into Love.

The thought it doesn’t matter what we do, it is why we are doing something that brings the outcome has always spoken to me. Over and over again in this process of producing Antenatal Wisdom I have discovered this to be true. The course itself is accumulation of three women’s work who have a combined experience of over 60 years in the field of antenatal work and training. This new project was an opportunity to question everything tha

There is so much wonderful inspiration offered at this time if you are wanting fresh, healthy, locally sourced and seasonal foods. I really celebrate this and healing foods are large part of the herbal medicine model of health care. I have a passion for herbal medicine and using medicines that are full of life force energy and vitality. This is obviously one of the reasons I spent many years training and then working as a herbal practitioner. Over the years of having the good fortune of working in this arena I have also developed an enthusiasm for supporting the herbal legacy of the Home Herbalist. The renowned herbalist. Doctor Christopher gave us a quote, “ a herbalist in every home and a practitioner in every town”. So I offer all I have discovered through different resources to support those who would love to feel confident and to trust that they can use the amazing healing potential of plants in their home.

This time of the year it’s always a delight to turn to the spices in the kitchen pharmacy cupboard. The pinch of cinnamon or cayenne, some ground fenugreek or fennel seeds and the delights of ginger and nutmeg can aid digestion support the immune system and offer overall benefits to the hormonal and glandular systems of the body. Wow all this in just a pinch of spice added to your suppers or porridge, juicing or baking. Then there is the extra little gift of exciting our taste buds. Most of the time spices offer their well being benefits by supporting and assisting production of sufficient gastric juices and relaxing the whole digestion system. On an individual basis some spices also are anti bacterial, antifungal and anti viral benefits. So what a great way to support your families immune system simply by adding a pinch of spice! All these spices produce the effect of harmonising and nour